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The Effect of Cancer on Suicide among Elderly Holocaust Survivors
Author(s) -
Nakash Ora,
Liphshitz Irena,
KeinanBoker Lital,
Levav Itzhak
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/sltb.12015
Subject(s) - demography , medicine , holocaust survivors , incidence (geometry) , cancer , population , suicide prevention , poison control , injury prevention , judaism , environmental health , geography , physics , sociology , optics , archaeology
Jewish‐ I sraelis of E uropean origin with cancer have higher suicide rates relative to their counterparts in the general population. We investigated whether this effect results from the high proportion of H olocaust survivors among them, due to vulnerabilities arising from the earlier traumas they sustained. The study was based on all J ewish‐ E uropean persons with cancer, 60 years and over, diagnosed in Israel between 1999 and 2007. The standardized incidence ratios were not significantly different between the exposed and nonexposed groups (men: 0.90, 95% CI 0.60–1.19; women: 0.95, 95% CI 0.55–1.37). Past exposure to maximum adversity did not increase the suicide risk among persons with cancer.